


When I said you take my breath away, I didn't quite mean this.

by inthedrift



Series: A Single Brain Cell Verse [4]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Kaiju, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Rals has PTSD and a guilt complex, The boys aren't really idiots, War, and related injuries, but they are a little broken, discussion of IEDs, this is backstory more than anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:46:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26997682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inthedrift/pseuds/inthedrift
Summary: Chuck is in hospital.Raleigh might be sat in this hospital but his brain is in one 1000s of miles away, several years ago.Yancy is worried about not one but two boyfriends.
Relationships: Raleigh Becket/Chuck Hansen, Raleigh Becket/Yancy Becket, Raleigh Becket/Yancy Becket/Chuck Hansen, Yancy Becket/Chuck Hansen
Series: A Single Brain Cell Verse [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1431817
Kudos: 26





	When I said you take my breath away, I didn't quite mean this.

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't exactly in keeping with the rest of the series.  
> There's no jokes, no humour, this is about Chuck getting hurt and Raleigh having PTSD related flashbacks.  
> This is basically plot, if that's not what you want from this series then you can skip and wont lose anything from the other fics.

It was 11 am, Raleigh was just about to welcome in his 8th-grade class and continue teaching 19th Century US History, however instead of the first student walking through his door, one of the school secretaries approached instead. 

“Mr. Becket, I’m sorry to interrupt, but there’s been a phone call at the office for you, and I think I would be wise if you were to check your phone.” 

Raleigh sat at his desk, confused for a moment before responding, “But what about my class?” 

She looked at him sympathetically, “Don’t worry about that I’ll watch them until a substitute arrives.” 

At her tone and the information that they had already prepared a substitute for his class, Raleigh began to panic. What had happened that made the school this quick to act? He grabbed his phone and rucksack and half walked, half ran out of the class. 

Once he’d reached the staff room, which was mercifully empty, he opened his phone to see 3 missed calls from Yancy and, most concerningly, a missed call off Hercules Hansen. 

Raleigh decided that Herc was the best place to start as if he’d called it must be serious and his heart started beating rapidly and his fear was now directed towards Chuck. 

Herc picked up on the third ring and Raleigh felt his heart stop at the sound of Herc’s shuddering breaths, as though he’d just been crying. 

“Herc?” Raleigh’s voice shuddered, he was struggling to breathe correctly, the fear and panic of what he was about to hear threatening to overwhelm him. 

“Raleigh,” Herc gulped as though he was trying to hold back more tears, “it’s Chuck.” 

Raleigh could feel the world falling apart around him, and he sank back into a nearby chair, which was preferable to collapsing straight onto the floor. 

“ _No._ ” 

It was barely a whisper, hardly audible to himself, he wondered if Herc had even heard it. 

“He’s been stabbed,” the sharp intake of breath from Raleigh seemed to stop Herc for a second but he managed to carry on, “He’s at the hospital, me and Angie won’t be able to get there, not quickly anyway. I think Yancy is already on his way. I've asked for you both to be let in.” 

~~~~~

Raleigh didn’t remember arriving at the hospital, he didn’t remember Yancy half arguing with the nurse to let them in, he didn’t remember being dragged by his older brother into Chuck’s room.  
Chuck was lying there practically blending into the sheets on the bed, and the sheer number of tubes and wires was astronomical. 

Raleigh tried to control his breathing, tried to stay in the here and now, but he couldn’t help but see a different hospital bed all those years ago, half a world away. 

~~~~~

_Raleigh was barely able to move around, his entire right arm was bandaged, the burns alone being a significant concern, never mind the 3 large shrapnel wounds that were only barely beginning to heal._

_And yet he’d managed to convince one of the nurses to help him move to his brother’s room. He sat in a cheap and severely uncomfortable chair at the bottom of Yancy’s bed, looking at his brother who was attached to what seemed like a million tubes and wires and machines._

_Yancy was lying in a hospital bed, only just having escaped death and it was all Raleigh’s fault._

_It was Raleigh who’d been driving the Humvee, it was Raleigh who’d been laughing and singing along with the rest of them, it was Raleigh who hadn’t paid attention and had hit the IED._

_It was Raleigh who had cost the lives of two of the men in their Humvee. It was Raleigh who had caused a third to lose both legs and two-thirds of his right hand. It was Raleigh who had landed his big brother in a coma._

_He could still see the explosion every time he closed his eyes. Still hear the screams. Still hear Yancy shouting his name._

_The front wheels had cleared by the time it detonated, he and Yancy took less of the impact than the men in the back of the truck. The only reason Lawrence hadn’t been killed was his position in the turret putting him further away from the blast._

_He was sitting here the most whole of the 5 of them, and it was all his fault. The universe was poetic in a sick way._

~~~~~

Raleigh was shaken out of his memories by Yancy’s hand on his shoulder. 

“Rals,” his voice was soft, “you’re in New York, not Iraq.” 

Raleigh was struggling to breathe, his heart was thundering and he felt like his head was about to explode. Yancy knelt down in front of Raleigh and took both his hands in his own. 

“You’re safe, I’m safe, and Chuck will be ok. He _will_ be ok.” 

Raleigh tried to suck in a deep breath, but his lungs weren’t listening, he couldn’t breathe and all he could do was grip Yancy’s hands for dear life and cry. 

Yancy pulled him into his arms, off the chair and into his lap. “Raleigh, this isn’t the same. _It isn’t the same._ ” 

Through his sobs, through the hitching breaths, Raleigh managed to choke out, “ _How can you stand to be near me, Yance?_ ” 

Yancy brought a hand up to cup Raleigh’s chin and forced him to meet his eyes, “Raleigh, listen to me. _It. Was. Not. Your. Fault._ And I’m not hearing any more of it, we’ve done this dance for years. I know you don’t believe me, or our superiors, or the official report, but listen to me now. If you don’t find a way to cope, whether it be talking to us or therapy or something else, then this will destroy you Rals, and I can't lose another man to Iraq, ok? I can’t lose you Raleigh.” 

~~~~~

It had taken Raleigh a while to come down from his panic attack, long enough that the nurses had kicked them out of Chuck’s room and into a waiting room while they did obs. Sasha had been released half an hour ago and joined them in the waiting room to see what the doctor would say next. 

“What happened Sash?” Yancy asked, Raleigh was curled up in the chair next to him, head rested on his shoulder, not asleep but he wasn’t really present. 

Sasha looked up from where she’d been staring at her hands, she had thin bandages on her arms, covering what looked to be a crisscross of shallow cuts. 

“We were called to emergency. Chuck drove, so I was the first out of rig and onto scene. We were told it was stabbing, failed to mention victim stabbed himself, and still had knife.” 

Yancy hadn’t realised he was holding his breath, until Raleigh shifted enough to grab his hand and gently stroke his thumb along the back of it. 

“He sliced me up a little before Chuck came out, idiot boy barreled into man, he took knife to side, think it punctured lung. When he is better I will kill him myself for being so dumb.” 

Yancy chuckled weakly, “I think you might have to get in line for that one.” 

They sat back in silence, Raleigh still running his thumb over Yancy’s hand but otherwise still, waiting for the doctor to emerge and speak to them.

Yancy knew that even as they sat there Herc and Angie were flying across the Pacific, coming to be with their son, and yet, for now, Chuck only had them and they had to be strong for him. 

~~~~~

The nurses reluctantly allowed the Becket’s to stay in Chuck’s room overnight. Yancy had a feeling that it had something to do with a phone call from one Stacker Pentecost, it always had something to do with a phone call from Stacker. 

Raleigh finally managed to pass into a fitful sleep in the marginally more comfortable armchair, and Yancy resigned himself to keeping watch over his boys, he wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway and the thought of taking his eyes off Chuck was unbearable. 

He’d clearly begun to doze, despite his promises to himself, as he was woken by a change in the beeping coming from the machines. 

His first reaction was to panic, the beeping had increased in tempo and he was about to call for a nurse, about to run for help, but looking up Chuck’s eyes were open. 

He was struggling to breathe against the tube down his throat and Yancy was immediately moving. 

“Roo, it’s ok. Don’t fight it, don’t try to work against it.” He was by Chuck’s side, gently reaching for his hand, showing him he wasn’t alone. 

He’d been in this position himself. Waking up to a darkened room, a tube shoved down his throat and no clue of what was happening. He knew the fear that was gripping Chuck now and he wanted to calm him, to protect him somehow. 

“Just let it breathe for you darlin’, let it do the work. You’re ok, you’re safe, I’m here. We’re both here.” 

Raleigh had woken up, and was moving from his position in the chair. He looked conflicted, torn between moving for Chuck and moving for the door. Yancy gave him a quick look and indicated towards the door, Raleigh didn’t need to be told twice, he immediately fell back into following orders when he was unsure, following Yancy’s lead. 

Yancy continued to hold Chuck’s hand, speaking comforts and support, telling him to not fight, to stay calm, until the nurses and doctors came and the room exploded into activity. 

~~~~~

The boys were eventually allowed to re-enter Chuck’s room, they’d taken him off of the ventilator and had given him an O2 mask to keep his sats up. 

Yancy was quickly over to Chuck’s side, taking hold of his hand and stroking his other hand through the younger man’s hair. Raleigh on the other hand hung back by the door.

Chuck shook Yancy’s hand off and reached to pull off his mask, Yancy began to protest but Chuck just waved him off. 

“Rals,” his voice was hoarse, but solid, “come here love.” 

Raleigh looked panicked, the same way he had done the whole time they were in the hospital. Like any moment something was going to go horribly wrong and it would be his fault when it did. 

“Raleigh, I need you right now.” 

The quiver in Chuck’s voice had Raleigh moving before he’d even thought about it. He was next to the bed, placing his forehead against Chuck’s, all while grabbing the mask and returning it to Chuck’s face. 

“I’m sorry, Roo.” 

Raleigh’s voice was barely above a whisper, and yet Yancy could still hear the fear in his voice.

Chuck waited a few minutes, let himself catch what he could of his breath, before removing the mask again. 

“When I’m out of here and can breathe properly again, we’re gonna talk about all this ok?” 

Raleigh was avoiding eye contact with both men, and focusing on a stain on the sheet. Chuck reached out and lifted Raleigh’s chin, forcing him to meet his eyes. 

“Raleigh, I love you, that won’t change no matter what you tell me, or don’t. Just know that I need you here right now, I need you both.” 

Raleigh nodded and allowed Chuck to pull him into a loose hug while Yancy grabbed his hand tightly. 

“We’ll get through all of this together.”


End file.
